SC mulls pan-India guidelines over inordinate delays in framing of charges in criminal cases
New Delhi (PTI): Expressing its annoyance over the delay in the completion of trials in criminal cases due to non-framing of charges for years even after chargesheets are filed, the Supreme Court on Wednesday said it needs to lay down pan-India guidelines to address the problem which leads to huge pendency of cases in the judiciary.
A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N V Anjaria, which sought the assistance of the Attorney General R Venkataramani and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, said even after the chargesheets are filed, the trial courts are not framing the charges for three to four years.
"We have noticed, time and again, the charges are not being framed even months and years after the filing of the chargesheet. This is one of the primary reasons for the trial getting delayed.
"Unless and until the charges are framed in a criminal case, the trial cannot commence. As such, this situation seems to be prevalent in most of the courts and we are of the considered opinion that certain directions need to be issued pan-India in this regard," the top court said.
It appointed senior advocate Siddharth Luthra as amicus curiae to assist the court in the matter.
"We also permit the petitioner's counsel to furnish a copy of the petitioner and the present order to the Attorney General as we propose to issue directions if required for all courts across the country," the bench said as it listed the matter after two weeks.
The bench, which was hearing a bail plea of an accused in a criminal case from Bihar, was informed by his counsel that charges have not been framed for the past two years despite the filing of a chargesheet.
The top court noted that under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), in cases exclusively triable by a court of sessions, a charge must be framed within 60 days of the first hearing.
Justice Kumar said that the delay in completion of trials in criminal cases is due to non-framing of charges and in civil matters it is due to non-framing of issues by the trial court.
"Why take years and years to frame charges? In civil cases, non-framing of the issues and in criminal cases, non-framing of charges.
"We want to know what the difficulties are and we will issue directions for all courts across the country. We propose to do it," the bench said at the outset.
The top court also sought the assistance of former high court judge and senior advocate S Nagamuthu.
The counsel appearing for the Bihar government said that there are substantial delays between the filing of a chargesheet and the framing of charges.
Similarly, another counsel pointed out that the same situation exists even in Maharashtra. Recently, another bench of the apex court has also expressed concern over 600 criminal cases where charges have not been framed and remarked that "it was a shocking state of arrears".
The top court had sought details of such cases from district courts in Maharashtra.
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2nd WT20I: Shafali, spin trio do star turns in India''s seven-wicket win
Visakhapatnam (PTI): Shafali Verma hit a blistering unbeaten 69 as India made short work of a paltry target to outclass Sri Lanka by seven wickets in the second Women’s T20 International here on Tuesday.
India now lead the five-match series 2-0 after another one-sided victory, having restricted Sri Lanka to a modest 128 for 9 through a collective display of disciplined bowling from the spin trio of seasoned Sneh Rana, ably complemented by young spinners Vaishnavi Sharma and Shree Charani.
During the chase, vice-captain Smriti Mandhana (14) fell cheaply but Shafali, enjoying new found confidence after a stellar show in the World Cup final, sent the bowlers on a leather-hunt during her 34-ball knock, winning it for her team in just 11.5 overs.
The hosts have now completed back-to-back successful chases within 15 overs which speaks volumes about the unit's sky-high confidence.
Shafali's innings had 11 punchy boundaries apart from a maximum.
The floodgates opened when left-arm spinner Inoka Ranaweera bowled a few flighted deliveries and Shafali would step out everytime to hit her over extra cover. Her footwork against slow bowlers was immaculate whether stepping out to loft the ball or rocking back to punch or pull.
Seeing her confidence, the newly appointed Delhi Capitals skipper Jemimah Rodrigues (26 off 15 balls) also attacked as the duo added 58 runs in just 4.3 overs.
By the time Rodrigues was out trying to hit one six too many, the match as a contest was over. Shafali completed her half-century off just 27 balls and completed the formalities in a jiffy.
Earlier, off-spinner Rana, who got a look-in after Deepti Sharma was ruled out due to fever, showed her utility keeping the Lankan batters under tight leash with figures of 1 for 11 in 4 overs, including a maiden which certainly is a rarity in T20 cricket.
Charani, who made an impression during India's ODI World Cup triumph, took 2 for 23 in her quota of overs, while Vaishnavi after an impressive debut in the opening encounter, finished with 2 for 32, not letting the Islanders get easy runs in her second spell.
The last six wickets fell for just 24 runs, but what stood out during India’s bowling effort was their superb ground fielding. After a patchy show in the previous game, the improved sharpness in the field resulted in three run-outs.
Sri Lankan skipper Chamari Athapaththu (31 off 24 balls) looked in good nick as she deposited length deliveries from seamers Kranti Gaud and Arundhati Reddy over the ropes but it was Rana, who kept her quiet by repeatedly pitching on good length.
Unable to manoeuvre the strike and with the big hits suddenly drying up, Athapaththu chanced her arm at another delivery in which Rana had shortened the length slightly.
Not having transferred the weight into the lofted shot, Athapaththu's hoick was pouched cleanly by Amanjot Kaur at long-off.
This was after Athapaththu's opening partner Vishmi Gunaratne (1) had offered a simple return catch to Gaud.
Hasini Perera (22 off 28 balls) and Harshitha Samarawickrama (33 off 32 balls) did stitch a stand of 44 but they could never set the tempo against the Indian spin troika.
Once Hasini offered a tame return catch off a Charani full-toss, Sri Lankans never recovered and lost wickets in a heap towards the end.
